Matt Comer

Timeline: Louis Farrakhan, Charlotte and LaWana Mayfield

The running timeline below gives a short overview of the events which have transpired since hate group leader Louis Farrakhan visited Charlotte for a series of speaking events Oct. 13-14. Local elected officials, including openly lesbian Charlotte City Councilmember LaWana Mayfield, have come under fire for refusing to condemn Farrakhan’s history of anti-Semitic and anti-LGBT hate speech. Farrakhan is documented as a hate leader of the Nation of Islam, certified as a hate group by the Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center. You can read ongoing updates and special coverage of this developing story at goqnotes.com/in/hate-watch/.

Timeline last updated: Nov. 14, 12:45 p.m.

Oct. 13

Louis Farrakhan speaks at Little Rock AME Zion Church. Several local elected officials and candidates for office attend, including openly lesbian Charlotte City Councilmember LaWana Mayfield, Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners Chairman Harold Cogdell, County Commissioner Vilma Leake and at-large Democratic commission candidate Kim Ratliff. Mayfield sends a message on Twitter to her followers saying, “Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan doing GOD’s will not his own,” and attaches a photo of Farrakhan at the church’s pulpit. Ratliff retweets, or shares, the message with her followers.

Oct. 14

Farrakhan speaks to approximately 6,000 at Bojangles’ Coliseum, marking the 17th anniversary of the Million Man March. Leake sits on stage behind Farrakhan.

Oct. 17 morning

qnotes is copied on a message to the Mecklenburg LGBT Political Action Committee, or MeckPAC, from at-large Republican commission candidate Wayne Powers, who takes issue with Ratliff’s appearance at Farrakhan’s Oct. 13. Research by the newspaper into Ratliff’s attendance at the event reveals the tweet from Mayfield, showing she was also in attendance.

Oct. 17 evening

MeckPAC holds its annual general election candidate reception and announces its endorsements, tapping Ratliff and Leake among others. qnotes speaks to Ratliff about her appearance at the Oct. 13 event, to which she says she was invited and attended in support of a campaign volunteer and friend. Ratliff says she was not aware of Farrakhan’s past comments, but if she had been prior to the event she still would have attended. MeckPAC Chair Scott Bishop says his group is confident of Ratliff’s commitment to LGBT equality and will not hold attendance at one event against her.

Oct. 18 morning

qnotes contacts and interviews Mayfield regarding her attendance at the Oct. 13 Farrakhan event and her tweet. Mayfield is asked to distance herself from Farrakhan and to condemn his history of anti-Semitic and anti-LGBT comments. She declines.

Oct. 18 afternoon

qnotes emails all sitting members of the Charlotte City Council and Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners asking if they attended any of the Farrakhan events, if they were aware of his past anti-Semitic and anti-LGBT comments and if they would publicly condemn his hate speech. Several respond. Mayfield again declines to condemn Farrakhan’s remarks.

Several local elected officials decline to respond to a request for comment from qnotes. Elected officials were asked for comment several times and notified of the newspaper’s print edition. Officials opting not to respond by the 1 p.m. deadline on Oct. 22 include: County Commissioners Dumont Clarke, George Dunlap and Jim Pendergraph, and City Councilmembers Michael Barnes, Patrick Cannon, Andy Dulin, David Howard, Patsy Kinsey and Warren Cooksey.

Oct. 23

Two organizations that endorsed Mayfield, Leake, Cogdell and Ratliff, as well as a third organization with which Mayfield is affiliated, are asked to give a statement on the ongoing controversy. The elected officials and candidate are forwarded the statements and asked for further comment.

Oct. 24evening

After attempting to follow-up with all of the elected officials and candidate, qnotesreleases the statements of Mayfield’s endorsers. Both groups, MeckPAC and the national Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, publicly condemn hate, but Mayfield, Leake and Cogdell remain silent on the issue. The Foundation For The Carolinas which oversees the Charlotte Lesbian & Gay Fund on whose board Mayfield sits, declines repeated requests to publicly condemn anti-Semitism and anti-LGBT hate.

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About the author:Matt Comer is the editor of QNotes, first hired to serve in the role in October 2007. He can be reached via email at editor@goqnotes.com or via phone at 704-531-9988, ext. 202. Follow him online at facebook.com/matthew.mh.comer or at twitter.com/themattcomer.

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You can support QNotes

You can support independent, local LGBT media! Give a one-time gift or sign up for an ongoing, voluntary online subscription to support qnotes' nearly three-decade long community service and keep our publication's dynamic, hard-hitting and insightful news and entertainment coverage alive. Click here to support us today.

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